Scalp Pigmentation vs. Hair Transplants: Which One Is Better?
A person becoming bald has two options: get a hair transplant or scalp pigmentation. A hair transplant is simply inserting hair into the bald spots of your head, while scalp pigmentation is covering up bald spots of your head with pigments—much like tattoos minus the metals. Hair transplants are permanent, while scalp pigmentation is not. With hair transplants, professional surgeons are required to perform the procedure, while any person who has undergone scalp pigmentation training can work on your bald spots.
Now, it seems that hair transplants are a much better option than scalp pigmentation if you consider the facts that a professional surgeon will take care of your scalp and that this procedure is permanent, unlike the other one. But there are other details to both procedures that could turn the tide. Here are the reasons scalp pigmentation is much better than a hair transplant:
A hair transplant is a long process
A hair transplant takes a whole day to be completed, and oftentimes the patient is required to stay overnight because it takes time for the anesthesia to wear off. But with scalp pigmentation, it only takes two to three hours to complete the procedure. If you’re a busy person who can’t be bothered to spend a whole day in a clinic or hospital, then choose scalp pigmentation and just be out of the office for the whole afternoon.
With a hair transplant, it takes a longer time to recover
It’s true that a hair transplant is less painful than scalp pigmentation only because the former requires anesthesia to dull the nerve endings in your scalp. But after the anesthesia wears off, you will need to take a painkiller for a couple of days because your head is going to hurt. With scalp pigmentation, the pain will come while you’re going through the process. But after you’re done, the pain will subside quickly, making it easier for you to go about the rest of your day and the whole week.
A hair transplant sometimes looks fake
Hair transplants are permanent. When the hair has been inserted into your scalp, it could even grow like your own natural hair. But oftentimes, hair transplants look synthetic, and most people can easily notice if someone has undergone this procedure. Scalp pigmentation looks more natural.
With a hair transplant, you can’t scratch your itchy scalp
It’s much more likely that you’ll experience an itchy scalp if you have undergone a hair transplant. What makes it worse is that you can’t scratch that itch because you might damage your hair follicles and ruin the hair that has been inserted into your scalp. With scalp pigmentation, most people who perform this procedure use hypoallergenic pigments, so there is a lesser risk of you experiencing an itchy scalp.
A hair transplant is much more expensive than scalp pigmentation. The former costs around $4,000 to $15,000, while the latter has a price range of $3,600 to $4,000. If you’re going to choose between the two, scalp pigmentation is clearly the better option.
